Black Faculty and Alumni Discuss Mentorship, Resilience and the Need to Advance the Field
Beyond learning the science and practice of medicine itself, Katz students help shape conversations to guide and support their futures as physicians. This was on full display during The Origins and Impacts of a Professionalized Field, a student-developed and student-led panel open discussion organized by the Katz chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), the oldest and largest independent, student-run organization focused on the needs and concerns of Black medical students in the United States. Part of the SNMA’s Black History Month programming, the event on February 24 featured prominent Black faculty and alumni, and addressed barriers in the medical profession, and navigating the challenges of being underrepresented in medicine.
“There’s power in diversity and inclusion in medicine, and it ends up having important consequences, especially for our patient population,” said Monique Crum, MD Class of 2028, co-president of Katz SNMA and one of the event’s organizers.
Crum and Gabriella Reynolds, MD Class of 2028, SNMA’s MAPS coordinator, led the planning and moderation of the discussion, ensuring it addressed the topics most relevant to their peers. For Reynolds, fostering open, thoughtful dialogue was essential. Amidst the current climate, Reynolds said she felt supported by the school’s faculty in she and her fellow students’ work.
“I just hope people listen to what is being said and really understand nothing we’re ever trying to say is an attack on anybody,” Reynolds said beforehand. “This panel is about learning—slowing down, listening, and understanding how certain things came to be.”
Before the discussion began, Amy J. Goldberg, MD, FACS, the Marjorie Joy Katz Dean, shared a welcome message via video, thanking SNMA for organizing the event and recognizing the impact of student leadership.
“Your work and dedication are inspiring and speak to the kind of physicians and leaders you are becoming,” Dr. Goldberg said.
Engaged Advocates, and the Value of Support
The panel featured Abiona Berkeley, JD, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity, and Lawrence Oresanya, MD, Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency. Joining them were David Wilkes, MD ’82, Dean Emeritus of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and Robyn Jones, MD ’81, a former senior director at Johnson & Johnson.
Dr. Wilkes received the Katz Alumni Achievement Award in 2017 and serves on the school’s board of visitors. Dr. Jones, a member of the school’s Medical Alumni Association board, was presented with the Alumni Service Award in 2021. Both have remained deeply connected to Katz, reinforcing the strength of the school’s alumni network and the importance of staying engaged.
“While nothing replaces a one-on-one mentor, events like this help build those connections and create opportunities for support,” said Dr. Wilkes. “As a proud Temple alum, if sharing my experiences helps even one student feel more prepared, then it’s time well spent.”
Dr. Jones highlighted the power of representation, noting the impact of students seeing alumni who have walked the same path and succeeded.
“Representation & Inspiration—seeing successful Black alumni reinforces that success is attainable,” she said. “Representation matters, and alumni stories can inspire students to persevere despite challenges.”
A recurring theme throughout the discussion was the importance of mentorship, and developing relationships with leadership advocates and peer allies.
“Find a mentor,” said Dr. WIlkes. “Find the person whose career you admire, doing the things you want to do, and ask them how they got where they did. Beyond telling you, more often than not, they will offer to help you.”
The panelists also emphasized that students should not impose limits when seeking that type of support.
“Throughout medical school, residency, and my career, the person that was most likely to be my mentor, surprisingly, was a white man,” Dr. Jones shared.
Dr. Oresanya urged students to take an active role in building their support systems. “Being active in our communities, in our classrooms, with our peers who will be our allies—it’s essential,” he said.
Navigating Barriers to Address Needs
A key area that organizers identified for panel insight was the barriers facing Black physicians, and their experiences in navigating and surmounting them.
When asked about obstacles he faced during his training, Dr. Wilkes shared a defining moment early in his career. Three weeks into his fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin Medical Center, he overheard a division director make a racist comment about him before an upcoming research conference presentation.
“What do you do with that?” he asked the audience. “Do you fight, or do you go underground and get your work done?”
Rather than reacting in the moment, he focused on proving himself through his work. But leaning on instinct for when to engage and when to hold back, he said, became a key strategy in his career.
Dr. Berkeley noted the great success that students at Temple have achieved and reiterated that systemic change is necessary to bring more students into the fold, and advance the field of medicine on the whole.
“In Philadelphia, a city with a Black population of about 40%, Black doctors make up around 5% of the physician workforce,” she said. “We know that patients have better outcomes when their physicians look like them and trust can be established. These patients need more doctors from underrepresented backgrounds - not less.” Current efforts, she noted, threaten to result in the latter.
Beyond the challenges within the field itself, Dr. Jones noted that financial barriers continue to disproportionately affect underrepresented in medicine (URIM) students, and consequently the patients and communities that need them.
“It’s going to become even more challenging for [these] students to afford medical school,” she said. “And those who can, they will need to earn significant salaries as soon as they’re board-certified in order to pay off their substantial student loans. That will likely lure them away from primary care and historically underserved neighborhoods, where they’re needed most.”
While the discussion addressed serious challenges, it also reinforced a core message: students at Katz have a strong and supportive network behind them.
“For current and future medical students, especially here at Temple, there are people who are rooting for you, some of whom look like you and many of whom don’t, who want to see you get to the other side,” Dr. Berkeley told the audience.
She also encouraged the students to push boundaries – and themselves.
“You have to be better than us. I’m not trying to have people [emulate] me at the end of the day. You have to be better than me. You have to anticipate things that I can’t even think of.”
To close the evening, Dr. Jones left students with a final piece of advice—one rooted in self-care and resilience.
“Please take care of yourselves,” she said. “You must make sure that you’re OK if you’re going to be taking care of others. I just can’t emphasize that enough.”